Last time we saw Jacob he was making a deal (vow) with God, saying that if God took care of him, Jacob, in turn, would serve Him.
After anointing the stone, Jacob continues his travels to Uncle Laban’s house, and just before arriving, he meets Rachel, Laban’s daughter, as she is preparing to water her flock of sheep. If what happens next would occur today, there would be arrests, lawsuits, and all kinds of trouble. Jacob grabs her, kisses her, and lifts her up. I am picturing Patrick Swayze lifting Jennifer Grey in the air with the song I’ve Had the Time of My Lifeplaying in the background, but it probably didn’t go down like this. However it happened, Jacob is smitten, enamored, head over heels in love. So much so, that he wants her hand in marriage. But there is a problem. Rachel has an older sister, and well, I guess she wasn’t gorgeous like Rachel. I love the way The Messageputs it. “Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful.” Jacob apparently wasn’t into eyes, because he wanted Rachel, who was, again, stunningly beautiful. Typical dude. Jacob and Laban enter into an agreement…Jacob will work for Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. They shake hands on the deal, and Jacob starts working that day.
I don’t know if you realized this, but the Bible is a time machine, because one verse, Genesis 29:20, covers the next seven years. It says, “Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few days, he loved her so much.” I think we can all agree that there are periods of our lives when it feels like several years are over in a blink of an eye. If you have a child, you understand. Well, Jacob did his part, and it was now Laban’s turn to give Rachel’s hand in marriage. But he has other plans. Laban throws a huge party, and I can only assume Jacob had a little too much wine, and when it is “that” time for every groom’s favorite wedding night activity. Jacob is intimate with his bride. In the morning, imagine his surprise when, instead of Rachel lying next to him, it is Leah…you know, the one with nice eyes. I’m sure Jacob was furious. But Laban tells him that tradition dictated that younger daughters could not be wed before the older siblings. I wonder if Jacob thought in that moment of how he had tricked his father. The proverbial shoe was on the other foot. Jacob was now on the receiving end of a great deception. To smooth things over, Laban offers him the same deal for Rachel…work seven years and you can have her hand in marriage. I have to believe Jacob was like, “You don’t have any other daughter’s hidden away do you?” Apparently he doesn’t, and seven years (yes, one verse again) later, Jacob is married to Rachel.
As if these last 14 years haven’t been interesting enough, the next few are even more so. Jacob clearly loved Rachel more than Leah, but it was Leah who would start bearing children. Somehow Jacob balances time between the two, and Leah has a son, Reuben. Then another, Simeon. Then another, Levi. Then another, Judah. All this time, Rachel’s fury is building. So, she confronts her husband, “Give me children, or else I die.” Jacob claims he is doing his part, and in all honestly, it’s hard to argue that. Rachel then gives Jacob her maid to sleep with, in the pretense that it will be her (Rachel’s) child. It works and the maid gives birth to Dan. But Rachel needs to play catchup, so she tells the maid to sleep with Jacob again, and she bears another child, Naphtali. As if this soap opera of a story couldn’t get more bizarre, Leah is suddenly jealous (as if four sons weren’t enough). She now sends in her maid to bear more children on her behalf, because if Rachel can do it, so can she. And her maid bears a child, Gad. And then another, Asher.
Next level irony happens next. One day, Rachel is hungry and wants what Leah has. Leah trades the food to Rachel in exchange for permission to sleep with Jacob. (Again, I wonder if Jacob is reminded of his dirty dealings when he traded food with his brother in exchange for birthrights.) Leah is, once again, intimate with Jacob that night, and as a result, bears another child, Issachar. That recipe must have been mighty tasty to Rachel, because Leah gets pregnant again, bringing forth another son, Zebulun. Did I mention that food being delicious? It had to have been, for Leah has another “moment” with Jacob and bears a daughter, Dinah. Then Jacob sleeps with Rachel, and she gives birth to Joseph. I am beginning to wonder if these people have anything else to do.
The time comes for Jacob and his literal tribe to move on. He does, but not before some more conniving deception and trickery. You can read about that in Genesis 30. A lot happens to Jacob over the next few chapters. He runs from Laban, fearfully meets his brother Esau, his daughter is assaulted. Nothing good. And it certainly is not reflective of someone who promised to follow God. Nonetheless, God speaks to Jacob, “Go to Bethel.” Now, I believe in these past 20 years or so, God had been showing Jacob how it felt being on the receiving end of all the deception and wrongdoing of his earlier life. And it was now time for Jacob to return to where he first met God…to where he placed that first stone. It was now time for phase 2 of construction at Bethel. The place needed an upgrade, so Jacob gathers more stones and builds an altar, and God once again meets him here, in the culmination of Jacob’s redemptive story.
Each stone placed in the creation of the Bethel altar, was a reminder of the times past. One stone here, Jacob’s mistreatment of Esau. A stone there, dishonor of his father. Another stone in its place, manipulation of Laban. Stones for lying. Stones for loveless relationships. Stones for the lack of empathy. One by one, each stone is placed together to form the altar. And one by one, each stone of Jacob’s past is broken down, dismantled, and destroyed. It took decades, but Jacob recognizes the God who sustained him through the ups and downs, saying, “God has fed me all my life long to this day”…reminiscent of the vow Jacob made during his first encounter with God at Bethel.
In the end, the grungy, despicable jerk, Jacob, is transformed into Israel, the guy who fathered an entire nation…stone by stone. Really digging into Jacob’s life this week, it has reminded me of the shortcomings in my own life. Times when I said I would do something…and didn’t. Times when I convinced myself I was telling the truth…and wasn’t. Times when I stayed busy…I didn’t want to face the reality of life’s challenges. This doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface of my inadequacies; however, the great news is I know a God who is way more powerful than any of my failings. In the end, all it takes is His voice telling me to drop all the stones of disappointment and despair, and to return to Bethel, where regretful choices meet redemptive love.
Faith, Leadership, and History 